


The Wolf

by TheNovelust



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Boarding School, M/M, Military School, Protective Bucky, Skinny!Steve, i might continue this, some violence but not gory, winteriron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 00:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5518730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNovelust/pseuds/TheNovelust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My gift to aceofultron on tumblr.</p>
<p>Howard ships Tony off to a military school, where Tony makes a few new friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> This is my gift to aceofultron on tumblr for the WinterIron Holiday Exchange. I hope you like it! I tried to include all the elements that you said you liked.

Tony couldn’t roll his eyes any harder if his life depended on it. The sight before him set a look of pure disgust upon his face. The dismal New Jersey sky sprinkled raindrops that stuck to the window of the town car and blurred Tony’s vision of his new school. If anything, he thought it was an improvement.

“This can’t be the right place,” he practically whined, pressing himself up against the back of the front seat to give Jarvis a wide-eyed look. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Jarvis shook his head, shutting off the engine and reaching onto the seat besides him for an umbrella. “Not a joke. Welcome to your new school.”

Tony slouched back into his seat, arms crossed as if he were an actual three year old throwing a tantrum. "I don't want to go. This is stupid." He snuck another glance at the school through the window. Founded in World War II, Fort Lehigh had been abandoned some time after the end of the war. Instead of tearing down the old, dusty barracks, some bleeding heart up in Washington decided to preserve the historical fort and turn it into a military-style boarding school for “wayward boys”. Howard’s own effort in the war and it’s aftermath, combined with Tony’s attitude, had given his father the absolutely brilliant idea of sending Tony off. Much better than actually dealing with his son and addressing the tension between them, right?

Grabbing a backpack from the seat beside him, Tony waited for Jarvis to pull around to his door with the umbrella. Once Jarvis had opened the door for Tony, the young boy climbed out of his seat and stretched to his full height, swinging the bag onto his shoulder in one fluid, cat-like motion. Jarvis placed a reassuring hand on the small of Tony’s back, gently pushing the boy forward to his new home for the next six months.

* * *

Tony had managed to convince Jarvis to leave him at the door of the main office. The last thing he needed when establishing his reputation was for his butler (AKA babysitter) to sit with him during orientation or, worse, walk him around the halls and to his room. He had been a bit upset that Howard hadn’t even been able to find the time to see him off when his father was the entire reason Tony ended up in this hell-hole.

Orientation consisted of a blur of rules and regulations that Tony absolutely knew he wouldn’t follow. He set his sights on breaking a little rule called curfew first. He sat next to a black kid with close cropped hair cut with military precision who wouldn’t stop rambling on and on about airplanes. Tony somehow managed to sit in relative silence through his spiels; at least they provided more entertainment than the orientation speeches.

At the end, someone handed him a key and a map and sent him on his way. A little piece of paper attached to the key told him what room belonged to him, and the map helped him make his way there. Luck seemed to be forever on his side as the kid from orientation stuck beside him, casually stealing a glance at Tony’s key, and subtly informed Tony, in between sentences of his story, that they were roommates. Tony looked over at him during one of the rare moments the kid stopped in his storytelling to pause for breath.

“What’s your name anyway?”

“Just call me Rhodey.” The other boy let out a short, exasperated sigh and waved a hand as if Tony had asked him what the grey skies meant. For once, Tony enjoyed not being recognized and being treated like anyone else his age.

“So, whatcha in for?” Tony asked, digging into one of the pockets of his backpack to produce a small package of blueberries, a little gift from his mother. He offered one to Rhodey, who waved his hand again to dismiss it.

“What do you mean? I want to be here.” It occurred to Tony then that Rhodey was a scholarship kid, someone who actually worked hard to be in a place like this. Ew.

“Food must be great,” Tony teased with a roll of his eyes as he glanced down at the map once more. Following directions wasn’t one of his strong suits, but he thought they were going the right way.

"You're never going to last with an attitude like that," Rhodey informed him, which only earned another eye roll from Tony. "I'm serious!" Rhodey continued, only for his disapproving frown to turn into a chuckle. "Let me guess, Daddy's rich but never had time for you?" He laughed again, a little more bitterly this time, and shook his head. "Wish that was the worst I had it."

Tony's cheeks flushed bright red, and his fists clenched at his sides, but his weapon of choice was words. "What do you know?" Not a very refined weapon yet.

Rhodey shrugged and shook his head, silent a moment before glancing at the map Tony held in front of him once more. "Anyway, you're holding this upside down." Rhodey took the map from Tony and repositioned it correctly. "See? We're right here and our room is up ahead." He pointed first to a spot on the map, then to one of the doors down the hall.

Tony grumbled, mumbling under his breath but he found himself thinking that he may need to keep this kid around, if only for the first week in order to keep himself from getting lost. He took the key and unlocked the door, pushing it open with his foot before peeking inside. “Aw man, you mean I'm stuck in an all boys boarding school for six months and hot babes aren't even part of the welcoming committee?” He shook his head, disappointed, as he stepped inside and tossed his bag onto the bed.

Rhodey followed after him, setting a backpack onto the unclaimed bed. “Hey, it's not half bad.” He shrugged, lifting himself onto the bed and kicking back. He seemed to have had enough airplane talk, at least for the moment.

“Ugh, speak for yourself.” Tony wrinkled his nose. “Not even a mini-fridge.” He did like the desk tucked away in the corner of the room, however, but he wasn't about to admit it. He climbed onto his own bed, legs dangling off the edge so he could face Rhodey as he laid on his across the small room. “So is this our last day of freedom? We should do something with it.”

Rhodey lifted one eyelid open slightly, including his head to stare at Tony through the slit. “I'm not going to like what you're thinking, am I?”

“Depends.”

“On?” His other eye opened in curiosity.

“How much of a stickler for the rules you are.” Tony grinned, and he could tell from the change in Rhodey’s expression that Rhodey wasn't fond of his grinning.

Exasperated, Rhodey let out a sigh but something in his resolve changed. “I'll go along with it, but just to make sure you don't kill yourself. Or get lost.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony said with a dismissive wave of his hand as he went to his bag to busy himself with a robot.

* * *

Darkness had settled in around the camp, the moonlight pouring inside through small, high windows the only light to guide the boys on their mischief making mission. Tony had decided their first target would be the kitchen, his stomach rumbling after he had only picked at dinner, complaining about the quality of the food compared to the price of tuition. Rhodey had shrugged, happily shoveling Tony’s meal onto his own plate. Between then and now, Tony had convinced himself something better hid in the kitchen.

The door creaked slightly as they pushed their way inside, causing the boys to pause carefully as they raised their ears to listen for telltale sound of footsteps. Assured by the silence after a few minutes, they continued on inside. Tony went straight for the cabinets, looking through cans and pre-packaged MREs with grunts and groans of disgust. Meanwhile, Rhodey tentatively stayed by the door as look-out.

Tony wasn’t actually adept at being quiet, however, and it wasn’t long before the teenager knocked a can from it’s place on the shelf, in turn causing it to hit a pan, which swung wildly and made a ruckus as it hit the other pans. Even in the darkness, Tony could see Rhodey’s heart thumping wildly in his chest. “Oops,” he chuckled, flashing the same grin from earlier. If Rhodey didn’t like it before, he definitely wouldn’t like it now.

“Someone’s coming.” Rhodey whispered angrily through clenched teeth as he ducked away into the pantry, leaving Tony to fend for himself for the first time that day.

Tony quickly improvised once Rhodey ran for cover, deciding to hide in the cabinet under the sink. It was only when he climbed inside the cramped space that he found he wasn't the only one with the idea.

“Great minds think alike,” he teased in the darkness, unable to make out any details of his hiding partner, who just nudged Tony with his foot and shushed him. Tony crossed his arms with a grunt but didn’t make any more noise.

The boys could hear someone walking through the kitchen, a flashlight occasionally shining light through the cracks in the cabinet. In those moments, Tony could see his co-hider’s face, all kind brown eyes and Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men haircut. Tony’s first instinct told him to call the boy “handsome”. His second just narrowly managed to get him to keep his big mouth shut while someone still prowled the room.

Tony could hear movement and the sound of the can he dropped being put away. The cabinet shut, then the door opened and closed. A wisp of air passing his ear told him his co-hider had let out a sigh. Tony unfurled his arms and pushed the cabinet door open, thankfully falling out into the fresh air. He quickly gathered himself and stood, running a hand through his hair, before calling out to Rhodey in a whisper. “Oh Rhodey, where are you?”

“Right here. Give me a second.” With a grunt and a push, the pantry door opened and revealed both Rhodey and a skinny blonde boy probably half the size of every recruit in the damn place.

“Great to see you made it unscathed.” Tony raised his hand for a high five, which Rhodey very blatantly ignored while crossing his arms. “That’s cold, bro.” He turned to see that his co-hider had emerged from underneath the sink. “So, who are you?”

“James Buchanan Barnes. Just call me Bucky.” The boy said, massaging a kink out of his left shoulder from being cramped into the tight space.

“Tony Stark, but you probably already knew that.” Tony flashed a smile in the darkness, white teeth against a black backdrop. “And that’s Rhodey.” Rhodey gave a small wave to the pair. “So, what were you doing here?”

“Jus’ gettin’ somethin’ for Stevie,” Bucky answered, jerking a thumb behind him at the pale, skinny, blonde boy. “He’s gotta eat, or his blood sugar gets all wonky.” Bucky shrugged, as if this was the most natural thing in the world for him. “And what were you doing here?” Bucky raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“Just looking for a little adventure. Maybe a snack or two. Where do they keep all the good stuff?” Being reminded of food caused Tony to look around the kitchen once more. It seemed a little outdated and he wrinkled his nose.

“Here,” Steve said, pointing at the pantry. “Well, if you think peanut butter and jelly is ‘good stuff’.” Steve rummaged through the pantry for a moment before producing two jars.

“Better than that crap they served us at dinner, am I right?” Tony grinned, elbowing Bucky in the ribs, but the other boy merely placed his head in his palm.

“Steve works in the kitchen.”

Tony really needed to learn how to keep his big mouth shut. But still, it was his opinion and he wasn’t about to apologize. Instead, he just sort of shrugged and expertly changed the subject. “What else is there to do in this place?”

To that, Bucky himself shrugged, a strangely graceful roll of his shoulders. "Depends what you like to do. Besides, it's much easier sneaking off base in the daylight. Security about doubles around here at night."

Tony considered that for a moment, a brief flash of thought across his face before he said, "Tomorrow, take me off base." Behind him, he could hear Rhodey groan, and he could almost swear he heard Rhodey eyes roll as well.

"What's in it for me?"

"How about free food that doesn't suck?" Tony smirked in the darkness, the moon reflecting off a sliver of his teeth.

"It's a date — I mean deal." Bucky held out his hand and Tony took it, giving it a shake.

"Let's get out of here, Buck." Steve seemed to have heard something the others had missed while in their conversation. Bucky nodded and the pair disappeared off into the night.

Tony grabbed Rhodey by the arm and sneaked off after them up to their own room.

* * *

As it turned out, they never got off campus, or at least not in the way they intended.

Word apparently travelled very fast in the super villain circle and by the next morning, some organization called HYDRA had already made plans to kidnap son of weapons manufacturer Howard Stark in order to demand a multi-billion dollar ransom. Of course, it helped that the headmaster, Alexander Pierce, was secretly in league with the organization and had fed them the information about the arrival of his newest student.

Bucky met Tony and Rhodey while the duo made their way to breakfast, explaining that Steve had left for breakfast duty an hour earlier and would meet them there. Tony still grumbled about the horrifying quality of the food he had faced last night while Rhodey shot him a glance that said "shut up". Tony couldn't stop his mouth once it started however, and Bucky seemed less preoccupied by the insults now than he had last night.

"What I could really go for is —"

The sudden silence caught both Bucky and Rhodey by surprise. They had been walking, Bucky's head hanging down to hide some circles under his eyes Tony had noticed anyway, and Rhodey looking around at the grounds of their new home, but Tony's cut-off sentence made them stop in their tracks. They looked ahead of them first to see if anything had caught the genius' attention to make him stop mid-sentence, but they didn't find anything, not even Tony. He had disappeared suddenly, as if plucked from the Earth into the sky.

That gave Bucky an idea, and he looked up. Tony hung from the sky, a hand over his mouth of course the only thing that could stop him from talking. Bucky, however, could recognize that faint quality of fear in Tony's eyes, even from this distance. He had put on a brave face himself more times than he could count. Every loved one lost etched those lines on his face a little more permanently, and although he had just met this obnoxious rich kid last night, he wasn't about to let him become another line on his face. "Hey, let him go!" Unfortunately, he couldn't do much from this distance other than shout.

"Sorry kids. You'll see your little friend again once his daddy coughs up the money." Then the goon flew away, but not before something landed on the floor by Bucky's feet. Crouching down, Bucky picked up the small red and gold device. Little nerd must have made his own cellphone. He pushed a button, and a lock screen came up as he felt Rhodey peeking over his shoulder. A swipe of a finger opened up a map with a blinking red light receding quickly. A tracker.

"Are you coming?" Bucky shot a quick glance at Rhodey.

"Yeah." The answer came quickly, without a second thought. Bucky smiled, a flash of white teeth in the grim moment. He didn't think as he grabbed at Rhodey's arm and dragged the other boy along with him towards the garage.

Living on a military base all his life and then sent off to this military school, Bucky had picked up a few tricks over the years. He had hot-wired his first car at ten years old along with a group of other kids. That day he earned the official title of "troublemaker". He had no trouble hot-wiring this car as little difference existed between makes and models.

The engine roared to life and Bucky grinned at Rhodey again. Rhodey groaned, and although he thought this possibly the coolest thing he would ever do in his life, he said, "Shouldn't we let an adult handle it?"

"Nah," Bucky dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand, "the adults can never handle anything properly." Too much protocol and red tape hindered them. Bucky and Rhodey wouldn't have to worry about facing such things. They could go, rescue Tony, and get out. Pulling the tracker from his pant pocket, he handed it to Rhodey. "Alright, tell me which way to go."

* * *

It wasn't until they were already pulling out of the school that Bucky realized he had forgotten to tell Steve where they were going. No way would he ever let his best friend come along on a trip like this. Bucky didn't like to baby Steve, and he knew the other boy hated it, but Bucky just worried too much to condone Steve doing anything dangerous. It was better for him if Steve stayed behind so Bucky wouldn't have to worry about him and Tony. Rhodey seemed capable of handling himself, or at least like he wouldn't have an asthma attack if they had to do any running.

Bucky followed Rhodey's directions until they came to an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town. The place screamed typical villain hideout, and between that and the typical goon spiel earlier, Bucky found himself wondering exactly what kind of people had kidnapped Tony. Now came the tricky part. Raised in the military lifestyle, Bucky had no qualms with doing anything to protect the people he cared about. He knew that not everyone felt the same way. From the backseat, he pulled out two rifles. "Do you know how to shoot?"

Rhodey looked at him as if he had seen a ghost. "I'm not going to shoot anyone!"

"Then why did you come along? How did you think we were going to rescue Tony? Not like we have the money or we can talk our way out." Bucky laughed, a bit bitterly. When Rhodey said nothing else, he shouldered the rifle. "Alright, fine. I'll do it myself." With that, he walked over to the building from their parking spot across the street and peered into one of the windows facing a small alleyway. No way could Bucky walk around with a rifle on his arm in broad daylight. He needed to get out of the public view as quickly as possible.

He didn't see much inside. A few crates, looking as if they were covered with dust. Spiders had made a home in the corners of the window, and he swore he just saw a rat scurry into one of the crates. He tried opening the window, but it was either locked or stuck. Moving around towards the south side of the building — away from the street — he checked for a door. One appeared on the next face of the building, plain as day and unguarded. Bucky smirked and opened the door. Wait, he opened the door? Tony couldn't really be in here, right? Why would they leave the door unlocked?

Bucky shook his head. Whatever, at least it made his life easier. Slowly, slowly, he crept into the warehouse, looking around for any sign that anyone had been through recently. Finding none, he relaxed a bit and reached into his pocket for the tracker. According to the little device, he should have been right on top of Tony. Maybe it was busted, damaged in the fall, and had led them to some random place. What a coincidence that it had led them to a random warehouse.

Moving through the vast, empty warehouse and finding nothing, Bucky made his way upstairs to a maze of offices and storage rooms. Old printers and computers gathered an inch of dust atop their wooden perches. As he moved deeper into the maze, he could hear voices whispering. "We really did it this time," one said, "I don't think we can pull this off."

"Hey," another responded, "relax. We stole this jet pack off the Osborn kid, after all. We can do this." The voice sounded familiar, but not friendly.

Bucky followed the voices until he came to a corner. Carefully peering out from the edge, he saw two figures and recognized one as the man who had kidnapped Tony. Bucky pressed his back against the wall once more, breathing in and out slowly. This was it. He had one shot, one change to grab Tony and get him out of here. He had been through this kinds of situations in drills with his father very often, but this was the real thing and he could feel his stomach churning as his nerves began planting doubts within him.

No, he couldn't let fear stop him now. Instead, he steeled himself and steeled his nerves, pushing them aside to be dealt with later, and unshouldered the rifle. He had never shot anyone before, had never even shot at anyone before, but this was a life and death situation, and he was the only one who could help. He had to do this, he reasoned with himself, because if he didn't, no one else would.

A silent count in his head, then suddenly he rolled out from behind the corner into the room. He spotted Tony in a chair, tied up and looking a bit dazed, perhaps drugged. Bucky didn't pull the trigger, he couldn't, but he still had his fist and martial arts skills. Soft thuds echoed off the old walls as punches and kicks connected, smooth and calculated. The criminal duo crumpled to the floor beneath Bucky's expert hits, and he turned his attention to Tony.

"Are you alright?" Bucky worked on removing the ropes, digging in his pocket to produce his pocket knife and cut at the ropes, away from Tony and towards himself, until they loosened and fell on a pile to the floor. "Come on, bud, let's get you out of here." With a grunt, Bucky helped Tony to his feet. The other boy stared off into the distance then slowly turned to Bucky as he felt himself being lifted.

"Bucky?" A ghost of a smile pulled at Tony's lips.

"Yeah, it's alright. You're safe now." Bucky grinned and wrapped his arm around Tony to help support him as they made their way out of the room and back into the labyrinth of offices and storage rooms. Bucky tried to remember the route he had taken, but somewhere in the process he got turned around and lost sight of the exit. Tony regained enough of himself to stand on his own feet, but he couldn't remember they way out either.

Backs turned to a hallway, they never saw the man coming. Hands reached out from the shadows to grab Bucky and pull him back. The boy struggled while the man took the rifle from Bucky's shoulder, yanking it forcefully until it came away. "Little brat. Your friend would have returned home safely after we got the money. But you? We have no reason to keep you around." The man aimed the gun at Bucky, his finger on the trigger, ready to shoot.

As the twitch of muscle, Tony launched himself at the man, the gun going off ringing through the air, followed by the sickening sounds of screams of agony and the smell of copper in the air. Tony didn't have time to turn, fighting off the criminal to the best of his ability. Bucky had done a number on him, however, and one lucky punch gave Tony enough time to slip from his grasp and look to Bucky.

"Just get out of here. I'll catch up with you!" Tony could see the blood pouring down Bucky's arm, but the boy was still standing, and looking quite determined. Tony made a decision, hesitating only slightly before nodding and running off down the hallway. The image of blood burned the back of his eyelids and he rubbed at them as if that would erase the memory. It didn't, and a sudden force colliding into him sent him reeling. At first he thought it was the other man, but then he heard the familiar voice.

"Tony!" Rhodey ran right into the other boy, flinging out his arm to help him catch his balance while the other arm went to support Tony. "Let's get out of here!"

"Bu-bu-" Tony stammered, trying to orient himself further after what had just happened.

"No buts, just move." Rhodey used his grip on Tony's arm to drag the genius after him, expertly navigating the hallways and offices until they were downstairs, then across the street. Tony, too shocked to force out any words, just followed.

Outside, in the car, Tony collapsed into a heap in Rhodey's arms.

* * *

His fault. His fault. Everything was his fault.

Tony had been kidnapped a few times before. Howard never cared enough to actually do something about it. He just fixed the problem with money, warned Tony to be more careful, and then shipped him off to this school. Well, that had been part of the reason for Tony's enrollment in this glorified prison that better served as a chemical plant.

A night of restless trouble, the nightmares etched behind his eyelids any time he tried to close them burning bright with guilt, and he had finished his latest creation. Fueled by nothing more than willpower and orange juice, his efforts came into fruition, and with them, he would save Bucky. Tony could only imagine the horrors and cruelties the other boy had faced in his night alone in enemy territory. Bucky wasn't worth money to them; HYDRA wouldn't hesitate to hurt him.

Rhodey came into the room, some book in his hand, and looked up at the life-size red and gold armor staring back at him from across the room. "Uh, what's that?" Rhodey pointed a finger.

"That's Iron Man, or more like the Iron Man suit. I'm Iron Man." Tony's voice came so matter-of-factly he frightened himself. "I finished it to save Bucky. You'll help me out, right?"

"Oh no, now way." Rhodey tossed the book to the bed and waved his arms in protest. "You know how your rescue mission turned out. I already told the headmaster about Bucky. He'll take care of it."

"I'm the whole reason he was captured. He's still not back. Im not going to let him spend one more minute with them if I can prevent it." Tony sighed, looking away and running a hand through his hair before looking Rhodey in the eyes. "I'm not asking you to come with me, I'm just asking you to stay behind and help me out."

Rhodey looked away from Tony's gaze, at the book on the bed, at the pattern of his sheets, at anything to avoid looking Tony in the eye again. Finally, he sighed and flopped onto the bed, defeated. "Alright, what do you need me to do?"

Tony lit up like a child at Christmas despite the situation. "Okay, so I have this control panel here. It's not much yet, but it will give me an extra set of eyes and ears — that's you — so I can navigate through that place and break Bucky out." Tony produced a tablet from the bed and handed it to Rhodey. "I didn't have time to integrate all this into the armor itself since I was on such a tight deadline." With a few swipes and presses, Tony brought up a screen on the tablet. "Alright, here you can see what I see, as well as a few extra angles to cover my blind spots, then you have night vision, infrared, heat. We can play around with it a bit. It'll be easier that way." Tony hadn't actually tried the suit out yet.

"Uh..."

"You're right. Let me just go bust Bucky out of there." Tony began dismantling the suit and arranging it around himself until he finally had every piece in place. He got this working, now he just had to fix this. He could rescue Bucky, and things would be fine.

The door flew open suddenly and for a brief second Tony's heart dropped to his feet as he feared they may have been caught — things never ended well for him when Howard caught him. His heart returned to its proper place however once he saw the small, blonde figure in the doorway.

"I came right after breakfast duty, I hope I'm not —" Steve stopped as he noticed Tony standing in the gold and red armor, the moment giving him a chance to finally catch his breath. "I guess I'm not late then."

"Nope," Tony assured, faceplate slipping back to reveal determined brown eyes lined with dark shadows from his sleepless night. "We're just getting started, actually. Like a briefing, or something."

Steve didn't even question the armor adorning Tony's body. "Great, I haven't missed much. So what's the plan?"

Tony shit Rhodey a look that said 's by can't you be more like him?' and then turned back to Steve. " Well, I didn't really have one."

It was obviously very hard for Steve to keep quiet about that. "You're about to go save my best friend and you don't have a plan?" The judgment in the blonde's voice was heavy.

"Well, that's what you're here for, right? We were waiting on you." Tony grinned, charming and always quick on his feet, especially when his blood had probably turned to orange juice at this point. He tried not to turn to caffeine, at least not yet. That was one of Howard's vices, and the less like his father he became, the better.

Steve obviously didn't buy Tony's lies, crossing his arms with that same look on his face, but he said, "Alright. You've seen this place. What's it like?"

"Glad you asked." Tony grabbed the tablet from Rhodey and pulled up a map. "This is what I could create, from the best of my memory. I was drugged, so some of the details may not be exact. This is where they held me." Tony pointed to a room on the map. "I'm guessing they have Bucky there too." He could only assume that they hadn't moved him. The blood, all that blood. Tony pushed the thought away as his heartbeat began to quicken. He couldn't think about it. Not yet.

"Does that thing fly?" It seemed like such a silly question, and Tony could hear Rhodey stifling a snicker behind him.

"Yes."

"Probably your best bet to go through the roof then. They had to have improved their security since Bucky was able to get in there." Steve mulled over the map, nodding his head slowly.

"Good plan. I'll keep it in mind." Tony had already opened the window while they were talking. He pulled down his face plate before launching himself out of the window and flying off. This was, really, his first actual test flight. He had done controlled tests within the lab, but he had never really flown. Even though the wind couldn't ruffle his hair, the exhilaration he felt made everything he had done in his life before pale in comparison.

Five, maybe ten minutes, later he crashed through the ceiling of the old warehouse. A quick scan around the room quickly revealed no one. Wrong room, or he was too late and Bucky had already been taken somewhere else, or worse.

Tony wouldn't let himself think about that. Instead, the called to Rhodey using the communication system built into the armor. "Hey, Rhodey, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, Tony." Rhodey's voice came to him from internal speakers. "I'm picking up two coming your way with the heat sensors. Be careful." Rhodey chided, and Tony imagined him wagging a finger like a scolding mother.

"Yeah, yeah." But Tony's heart skipped a beat and he could feel his palms sweating. Still, he pressed on, knowing that Bucky must have wrestled with some of the same feelings. Tony had equipped the armor with some basic weapons and functions, but the time crunch had left him without all the things he had originally planned for the project. Palms raised, ready to fire his repulsors at the first sign of trouble, Tony advanced.

Rhodey's voice in his ear confirmed he was on the right path. "They're close. Uh, maybe another ten feet, and through a wall I think." Tony definitely needed to integrate these sensor readouts directly into the helmet in later iterations.

The figures came into sight as they rounded a corner and Tony recognized the two men from yesterday, bruised and battered from the beating that Tony and Bucky had given them. Tony's own bumps and bruises were hidden beneath the armor. "Fire repulsors." Voice activation was the slowest system, but the only one he could get working in time. A pulse of energy emitted from his hands, knocking him back slightly and sending the two men flying against a wall. They crumpled to the floor with a sickening crack and crunch and 

"Rhodey, where's Bucky?"

"To your right. I think through a wall, or two."

Steve's voice suddenly chimed in his ear. "Is he —" Rhodey apparently cut him off with a whisper as the voices in his head suddenly went quiet.

Tony navigated through the halls until he found Bucky. Immediately, he drew up his faceplate to vomit. Wiping his mouth, Tony looked back to Bucky, who laid upon a steel table. Bucky's entire left arm was missing. The other boy was also apparently unconscious. With the strength afforded to him by the suit, Tony picked him up and cradled him in both arms. "It's alright, I'm going to get you out of here pal."

"T-Tony..." One weak word mumbled between parched lips.

Tony didn't respond. He got out of there as quickly as possible.

* * *

Bucky saw very little of Tony after that for four months. Occasionally, they had a meal together, but often Tony looked far away during these sessions, shoveling food into his mouth while his eyes told he was thinking of something else entirely. Bucky had adjusted to his life with one arm. At first, the upset in balance had thrown him off, disrupting his usually agility. He soon grew to compensate, regaining much of his former self. It still ached at times, and sometimes he went to move it without thinking and the realization washed over him again. He didn't regret, and he didn't blame Tony.

Then one day, on one of the occasions when Tony had decided to sit with him rather than taking lunch in his room, Tony said, "Hey, want to go see something?"

Bucky hadn't said anything, hadn't been talking about anything, but the sudden invitation from Tony made him smile. "Sure. What is it?"

"Come. Just have a look." Tony grabbed Bucky's tray, piling it on his own to bus them both before leading Bucky up to his room. A mass occupied the bed, covered by a sheet. "Alright. Get ready." With a flurry of extravagant motion, Tony lifted the sheet and exposed what laid underneath.

Bucky's mouth gaped open in surprise. On the bed, a silver mechanical arm shined brightly.

"It's just a prototype," Tony explained,"but it will hook up with your nerves and I'll improve it. This is just the best I could do at my quickest pace. Just in time for the holidays."

A response caught in Bucky's throat. His "thanks" came out rougher than he meant.

"Here, let me put it on." Tony grabbed Bucky's hand and led him to the bed. From under the bed, he produced a bag of tools. He set to work in silence, and it took him some time to speak again. "Let me know if anything hurts." He set to work on connection the nerves, something he had only practiced on a computer simulator he had set up with the help of Hank. The process seemed to go over smoothly, however, with very little grunts or groans from Bucky, or at least less than Tony had expected.

"That arm looks good on you, you know." Tony said as he looked down on his work. "But then, what wouldn't look good on you? You're gorgeous."

Bucky smiled, because he had been feeling self-conscious about his arm lately, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Tony moved closer to Bucky now, his heartbeat picking up in his chest as he did the thing he had dreamed of doing since the day Bucky had rescued him from that dusty, old warehouse. Tony kissed Bucky. Only allowing a light peck on the lips for fear of rejection, Tony found himself surprised as Bucky wrapped his arms — both arms — around him and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Tony pulled away, a blush on his cheeks and a breath caught in his throat.

"Thanks," Bucky said before kissing him again.


End file.
